Mario Aguilar

The volunteer fire station in the tiny Austrian town of Margreid is carved straight into a 300-foot sheer rock face on the side of a mountain. Designed by Italian architects Bergmeister Worlf, the unusual headquarters is a perfect aesthetic match for its alpine setting.

Aside from its striking appearance, the fire station is a marvel of engineering. As Fast Company reports:

They began by blasting three caverns into the cliff face, connecting them with smaller criss-crossing tunnels. Two of the tunnels became the garages, while the third houses the administrative part of the station, which extends as a glass box beyond the rock. Inside the granite wall, meeting rooms and offices are fitted out in wood and steel.

What's especially cool is that the mountain stores heat all the way through the winter, providing the fire station with a natural heating system. [Fast Company via Contemporist]